NCLT needs 69 benches to handle current case load: report

New Delhi, April 6 -- The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will need at least 69 benches to handle its current case load, according to a report published on Thursday.
At present, the NCLT has 14 benches in 11 locations with 25 members.
The reports, prepared by policy researchers Devendra Damle and Prasanth Regy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, added that in order to dispose of the pending cases with the NCLT in the next five years, it would need 80 benches.
The report highlighted the lack of accurate judicial impact assessment, or the kind of judicial resources needed to handle case load. India lacked a "sound process for determining the number of judges/benches needed", the report said.
The analysis relied on an Alvarez and Marsal report which said that nearly 25,000 cases would be transferred to the NCLT from various forums.
The NCLT began functioning from June 2016 and took over the work of the former Company Law Board on company law matters, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction cases of corporate restructuring and winding-up petitions pending in high courts. The NCLT is also responsible for corporate insolvency cases filed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board.
The study said the new specialized tribunal (and its benches) had a disposal rate of 6,620 cases annually. Based on these numbers, the report said the NCLT would accumulate a backlog of 130,250 cases in five years.
The report added that even if there were 24 benches, which is the government's plan according to this report in the Hindu, the NCLT would have a backlog of 106,600 cases in the next five years.
In an interview with Mint, M.M. Kumar, president of the NCLT, had said the tribunal was "thoroughly prepared and making all efforts" to handle the varied case load.
With the tribunal soon to complete a year of functioning, it remains to be seen what its case disposal looks like.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from MINT.